Projection welded needle guide

Abstract: Projection welding is used to join a needle guide member (30) and a valve seat member (32) together preparatory to their assembly into the nozzle of a fuel injector. Various embodiments are disclosed, including various ways for creating the projections (52).

Description: Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to fluid valves, particularly fuel injectors, and to methods relating to the manufacture of such valves. Background and Summary of the Invention One type of fuel injector that is used for injecting fuel into an internal combustion engine comprises a valve element in the form of a needle that is reciprocated by an operating mechanism to seat on and unseat from a valve seat member thereby alternately closing and opening a passageway through it. For aiding in guiding the reciprocation of the needle, a needle guide member is disposed proximate the valve seat member. The present invention relates to a new way to join a needle guide member and a valve seat member together. First, it should be recognized that certain needle guide members and valve seat members are already commonly joined by using machined fixtures, pressing, clamping, laser welding, or resistance welding. Welding of a needle guide member to a valve seat member in a precise locating fixture is superior to other methods in cost and/or precision. Resistance welding works well when the design of the components is suitable and the contact area is small. The present invention solves the problem of welding these components when their design is not suitable for the previous techniques. Because of valve functional requirements, the design of the two components for which the present invention has been developed requires that they have relatively large flat surface areas that mutually abut. They cannot be successfully resistance welded because the manufacturing techniques employed to fabricate them do not consistently produce surfaces of sufficient flatness for resistance welding to be suitable. Attempts to resistance weld these surfaces are apt to result in distortions of the components which although seemingly small are nevertheless sufficiently large that they may impair proper functionality of a precision device like a fuel injector. Germany document 'Handbuch der Schweißtechnik', J Ruge, Band II, Springer-Verlag 1980, pages 100, 111, refers in particular that when large surfaces have to be joined by resistance welding, a concentration of welding energy is necessary. Fig. 10-118d illustrates projections. The thrust of the document is the welded of LARGE surfaces which are generally not required to be welded with the precision required in fuel injectors. There is no reference dealing with such precision. According to the present invention there is provided a combination of a seat member and a guide member for a fuel injector in which the seat and guide members share a common main longitudinal axis and have respective surface portions which surface portions are complimentary to each other and confront each other when said guide member and said seat member are joined, characterized by one of said seat and said guide members having a frusto conical surface, which adjoins said one member, wherein weld projections are disposed on one of said surface portions of said guide member and said seat member for engaging said surface portion of the other of said guide member and said seat member preparatory to joining of said seat member and said guide member by conducting welding current through said seat member and said guide member so that said weld projections melt and form welds joining said members, and for each weld projection a corresponding depression disposed immediately adjacent and adjoining each of said weld projections in said frusto conical surface so that as said weld projections melt and join said seat member to said guide member excess molten weld is received by said depression away from said contacting surface portions thereby joining said seat and said guide members unfettered by said excess weld. The weld projections concentrate the welding energy for producing resulting strong welds while reducing the total weld energy used so that the parts do not distort to a degree that impairs their proper functionality in a fuel injector. They provide consistent, well-defined contact areas so that the welds can be consistently and accurately placed at desired circumferential increments around the co-axis of the two abutted parts. The depressions in combination with the frusto conical surface serve to channel excess molten weld away from the surface portions, thereby improving the contact therebetween. Three projections are used so that three-point abutment is consistently assured irrespective of slight irregularities in flatness of the surface containing them and in flatness of the surface which they abut. The creation of the projections by machining is not economical. Molding and coining are the preferred ways to create them. Advantageously, each of the projections are created by tooling with a tool which comprises a pointed tip that may be advanced into the frusto conical surface adjoining the respective surface portions. As the tool creates the depression in that surface, material of the member is displaced to create the projections extending from the surface. Details of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following description which is accompanied by the following drawings presenting the best mode for carrying out the preferred embodiment at this time. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is an elevational view, portions being in cross section, of an exemplary fuel injector embodying a construction resulting from the application of principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section of two of the components of the fuel injector by themselves prior to assembly. Fig. 3 is a view of one of the components of Fig. 2 by itself, but with a smaller portion cross sectioned away than in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a full bottom view in the direction of arrow 4 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in circle 5 in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view in the direction of arrows 6-6 in Fig. 5. Description of the Preferred Embodiment Fig. 1 shows a representative fuel injector 18 that has been fabricated through use of principles of the invention. Fuel injector 18 comprises a body 20 having a side inlet 22 through which fuel enters and a bottom nozzle 24 from which fuel is injected. An internal passageway 26 for the conveyance of fuel through the fuel injector extends from inlet 22 to nozzle 24, and its final length is seen in Fig. 1 just before nozzle 24. Nozzle 24 comprises a counterbore 28 containing a needle guide member 30 and a valve seat member 32 in a fixed mounting on the body. The distal end of a needle valve member 34 is guided by guide member 30, and the rounded tip end of member 34 seats on and unseats from a frustoconical seat formed centrally in member 32 as member 34 is axially reciprocated by an actuating mechanism that comprises a solenoid 36. When member 34 is seated on member 32, flow through an injection orifice 38 in member 32 is blocked. When member 34 is unseated from member 32, fuel can flow to be injected from the nozzle. The present invention relates to joining members 30 and 32 together in assembly before they are assembled into counterbore 28. Fig. 2 shows members 30 and 32 by themselves in greater detail prior to being joined. Member 30 has a transverse wall 40 that contains a central guide hole 42 for guiding member 34. It also contains several slant swirl holes 44 for fuel to pass through to the frustoconical seat of member 32 which is designated 46. Members 30 and 32 have respective surface portions that are complementary to each other and that confront each other in the completed assembly of members 30 and 32. They include a nominally flat, annular, transverse surface 48 in member 30 and a nominally flat, annular transverse surface 50 in member 32. It is via these surfaces that the two members are to be joined. In accordance with certain principles of the invention, three circumferentially spaced projections 52 are provided in member 30. When the two members 30 and 32 are coaxially aligned as in Fig. 2 and then axially forced together, projections 52 will contact surface 50 thereby providing a three-point contact of member 30 with member 32. Members 30 and 32 are steel, and so can be welded. Therefore, when they are clamped in a welding fixture that passes electric current between them, the current path through them will include the three projections 52. A sufficient amount of current will cause the projections to melt, and when the current stops, the melted projections are allowed to cool and solidify into welds that hold the two members together. Each of the projections is created by tooling which comprises a pointed tip that is advanced into a frustoconical surface 54 adjoining surface 48. As the tool creates a small hole, or depression, 56 in that surface, material of the member is displaced to create the projections extending from surface 48. The two members are placed in the fixture and then welded together as described. During welding, the projections melt, and some of the melt can flow into holes 56. Other portions of the two members in the vicinity of the projections may also melt during the welding. After the melt has been allowed to solidify, the joined members are unclamped from the welding fixture. They are then assembled into counterbore 28. The three-point arrangement of the projections at one hundred and twenty degree increments around the co-axial of the members is advantageous because it will assure proper seating of the members for welding despite the presence of any slight surface irregularities in the confronting portions. Figs. 3-6 illustrate greater detail related to Figs. 1 and 2. While a presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it should be appreciated that the invention, as defined by the claims, is applicable to other embodiments.

Claims: The combination of a seat member (32) and a guide member (30) for a fuel injector (18) in which the seat and guide members (30, 32) share a common main longitudinal axis and have respective surface portions (48, 50), which surface portions (48, 50) are complimentary to each other and confront each other when said guide member (30) and said seat member (32) are joined, characterized by one of said seat (32) and said guide (30) members having a frusto conical surface (54), which adjoins said one member (30, 32), wherein weld projections (52) are disposed on one of said surface portions (45, 50) of said guide member (30) and said seat member (32) for engaging said surface portion (48, 50) of the other of said guide member (30) and said seat member (32) preparatory to joining of said seat member (32) and said guide member (30) by conducting welding current through said seat member (32) and said guide member (30) so that said weld projections melt and form welds joining said members (30, 32), and for each weld projection (52) a corresponding depression (56) disposed immediately adjacent and adjoining each of said weld projections (52) in said frusto conical surface (54) so that as said weld projections melt and join said seat member (32) to said guide member (30) excess molten weld is received by said depression (56) away from said contacting surface portions thereby joining said seat and said guide members (30, 32) unfettered by said excess weld. The combination as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said depressions (56) are formed in said frusto conical surface (54), substantially above said weld projections (52), in a plane parallel to the main longitudinal axis. The combination as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein said depressions (56) and said weld projections (32) are created by a tool with a pointed tip that is advanced into said frusto conical surface (54) so that the fit between said seat member (32) and said guide member (30) provided by said surface portions (48, 50) in combination with said weld projections (52) may be tested before joining. The combination as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein there are three such weld projections (52), and corresponding depressions (56), arranged one hundred and twenty degrees apart about the main longitudinal axis.

Inventors: BRIGHT JOHN S, HUSZAR GYULA A, SPIERS DEAN L, BRIGHT, JOHN S., HUSZAR, GYULA A., SPIERS, DEAN L.
Applicants: SIEMENS AUTOMOTIVE CORP LP, SIEMENS AUTOMOTIVE CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B23K11
IPC codes: B23K11, F02M61, F02M51